The US Department of Commerce's most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data show that steel import permit applications by the US in the month of August totaled 863,549 metric tons (951,900 nt). This figure represents a slight three percent decrease from July permit and preliminary census totals and a steep 63 percent decrease from August 2008 final import total.
In a press release regarding the August SIMA data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) noted that the import permits for finished steel are lower than any prior 2009 finished import monthly totals, although sheet products saw a 24 percent increase in imports in August permits vs. July preliminary figures.
Commenting on the August data, Thomas J. Gibson, AISI president and CEO, noted, “Steel import aggregate totals remain relatively low. But imports year-to-date are still taking nearly a fourth of the US market. Domestic steel mils are operating at only 55 percent of capacity. We are just now seeing the first tentative signs of US manufacturing growth in the last year-and-a-half. It is therefore critical that dumped and subsidized imports not be allowed to undermine what is likely to be a very fragile economic recovery.”
